Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Chapter 403 - 200: Succession, Conquest

The chief looked Man Yu up and down.

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in his cloudy eyes. He said, "The Guardian God has been waiting for news of you for many years. Since you’ve returned safely now, come with me and atone to the Guardian God!"

The chief was very old.

For years, the matter of a successor had been a headache for him.

The Fusang Tribe was currently caught between a rock and a hard place. The escalating conflict with the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe was a huge source of danger.

And he was merely a leader of average talent and courage.

In times of peaceful development, he might have been competent enough for the position of chief.

But now, when it was crucial to boost the soldiers’ combat strength and the tribe’s unity, there was very little he could do with his current abilities and boldness.

Therefore, he and the Elder Council had always believed that the next chief to succeed him must be a strong individual with skill, courage, and the ability to win wars.

Otherwise, under the threat of the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe, the Fusang Tribe would likely suffer a great loss.

In fact, this was already the case.

It was just a pity that after searching for so many years, he had yet to find a suitable successor.

Until now. The sudden reappearance of Man Yu, someone who was supposed to be dead, immediately made the chief consider her as a successor.

First, Man Yu was of the tribe’s core bloodline.

Second, she had once been the Guardian God’s Apostle and had a very good relationship with him.

Of course, most important of all, the chief and the few remaining Elders were quite satisfied with the combat prowess Man Yu had displayed before she left.

So-called "war" didn’t just require warriors to charge forward bravely.

It also required a series of support measures like establishing battle strategies and replenishing logistics, as well as a commander who could truly win the people’s respect...

Without a doubt, Man Yu was now the perfect choice.

Of course, for now, he could only keep these thoughts to himself.

Because although Man Yu had returned, no one knew what she had experienced outside for the past thirty years, much less how she viewed the Fusang Tribe today.

Of course, beyond all that, the most crucial thing was—the Guardian God’s attitude.

If the Guardian God had no objections, then nothing else was a problem. If the Guardian God blamed or disliked the current Man Yu, then all his ideas would naturally be out of the question.

Hearing the chief’s words, a hint of nervousness appeared on Man Yu’s face.

’To be honest, my impression of the tribe isn’t as deep as I might have expected, but my feelings for Li Chang’an are undoubtedly complex.’

Man Yu had no father; he had died in a hunt before she was born.

Man Yu also had no mother; she had died from a difficult childbirth.

When she was very young, her grandmother, Banyue, had carefully raised her, feeding her beast milk and finely ground honey.

In Man Yu’s mind, her grandmother was the mother who had raised her.

And Li Chang’an, the Guardian God, was more like a father to her. He had been very kind to her since she was little, and after she grew up, he taught her the skills of survival and combat.

But this time, she had left home and been gone for thirty years.

In all that time, she had only made contact once.

Now that she had returned in such a sorry state, she also didn’t know what Li Chang’an’s attitude would be, or whether he would blame her.

’But no matter what, what’s coming is unavoidable.’

Led by the chief, Man Yu once again arrived outside the Temple, at the place she had dreamed of day after day for decades.

After more than three hundred years of wind and rain, the Temple was beginning to show an air of ancient decay.

The Fusang Tribe had actually wanted to renovate the Temple for years, planning to give the Guardian God a more spacious and grand Divine Hall. However, due to the war with the neighboring Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe, most of the tribe’s young people had been recruited into the army, so the matter of the Temple was postponed again and again.

The chief carefully knocked on the great doors of the Temple.

He waited for about three minutes.

CREAK...

The doors opened, and a beautiful young woman of about seventeen or eighteen walked out from the Temple. In a voice like a lark’s, she said, "Chief, please wait here. The Guardian God wishes to see Lady Man Yu alone!"

Looking at this younger, more beautiful woman before her, Man Yu was momentarily dazed, seeing in the other girl a shadow of her former self.

’She must be the Divine Envoy who replaced me.’

’Perhaps the Guardian God never really cared about me.’

For a moment, Man Yu hesitated, and she began to wonder if her past aspirations and rebellion had been worth it at all.

’But things have already come to this. There’s no reason to turn back at the very last step.’

Man Yu took a breath to compose herself and followed the young woman into the Divine Hall.

The Divine Hall was no different from the past.

Before long, Man Yu saw the massive dragon body coiled in the center of the Divine Hall’s plaza. She gave a slight bow, her voice trembling slightly as she said, "Guardian God, Man Yu has returned!"

Li Chang’an looked his nominal first disciple up and down. When he saw the bloodstains and wounds beneath her leather armor, he sighed and said, "What have you been through all these years? Why have you only returned now?"

He wasn’t angry, but she was, after all, a disciple into whom he had poured considerable effort. It would be a lie to say he felt nothing for her.

Besides, due to his status, Li Chang’an was unable to travel far.